Fatima Sana took four wickets and made 47 not out, and Pakistan still went out in Dubai

Fatima Sana made 47 not out off 36 balls, took four wickets for 38, collected the player-of-the-match award, and still finished Friday night watching Sri Lanka celebrate. Pakistan posted 130 for 5 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Sri Lanka lost four wickets inside the first seven overs of the chase, rebuilt, and got there with eight balls to spare. They play India in Sunday’s final at the same ground.

Pakistan were 92 for 5 with four overs left

Sri Lanka won the toss and bowled, and the early part of the innings went their way. Muneeba Ali was caught by Nilakshika Silva off Sugandika Kumari for 2 in the second over. Shawaal Zulfiqar hit two fours and two sixes in a 16-ball 24 before Chamari Athapaththu had her caught behind. Ayesha Zafar went the same way for 7, and Pakistan were 52 for 4 in the tenth.

Gull Feroza dug in for 21 off 32, the sort of innings that keeps a scoreboard breathing without ever threatening to do anything else. When Chamudi Praboda had her caught at 92 in the 16th over, Pakistan had four overs and one recognised batter left.

That batter was their captain. Fatima Sana and Tuba Hassan put on 38 unbroken, Sana finishing with four fours and two sixes, and 130 was a good deal more than Pakistan had looked like making at the drinks break. Athapaththu returned two for 24 and Praboda two for 25.

Then she took four of the six Sri Lankan wickets

Sana’s first over did more damage on its own than anything else all night. Athapaththu was caught by Sadaf Shamas for 5, Sanjana Kavindi went for a first-ball duck to a catch by Shawaal Zulfiqar, and Sri Lanka were 5 for 2 before the second over was out.

Sadia Iqbal then had Hasini Perera caught for 3, and Umm-e-Hani removed Imesha Dulani for a 21-ball 24 that contained four fours. Sri Lanka were 33 for 4 in the seventh over. The powerplay brought them 31 runs and cost three wickets, and at the ten-over drinks they were 53 for 4 with 78 still needed.

Samarawickrama and Dilhari took it away

Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari added 67 for the fifth wicket, 50 of those inside 42 balls. Neither went at a run a ball. Samarawickrama made 36 off 31 and Dilhari 33 off 33, and between them they refused Pakistan a sixth chance until the target had shrunk to something two new batters could handle. Athapaththu’s word for it afterwards was that the pair “absorbed pressure and took singles well”.

Sana got them both in the end. Samarawickrama holed out at 100 in the 17th over, Dilhari was lbw five balls later at 109, and Pakistan needed one more wicket with 22 to defend off 18 balls. It never came. Nilakshika Silva hit three fours in 18 not out off 10, and Kaushini Nuthyangana finished it with the first six of her international career, which was also the only six Sri Lanka hit all innings.

Sana’s figures read 3.4-0-38-4, an economy rate of 10.36 alongside two-thirds of the wickets that fell. Her own reading was blunter. “There were lapses in the field and that cost us despite having a defendable score,” she said. “Need to improve our batting.”

India are waiting, and so is Dambulla

India reached the final on Thursday, beating Bangladesh by 40 runs on the same pitch. Shafali Verma made 64 off 40 with seven fours and three sixes, India posted 149 for 6, and Deepti Sharma took three for 26 as Bangladesh stalled on 109 for 7. It is India’s sixth final in six editions of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup, and they have not lost a match in this one.

Sri Lanka are the holders, and the way they got the title is the part India will have heard about all week. Sri Lanka had lost five Asia Cup finals, all of them to India, before winning the 2024 edition at Dambulla by eight wickets. Samarawickrama made 69 not out that night and took the player-of-the-match award. Dilhari finished it unbeaten on 30. Both were back at the crease on Friday, doing a version of the same job.

The final starts at 8pm IST on Sunday in Dubai.

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